


Kocher's Mystery Lover

by Casey_Wolfe



Category: Generation Kill
Genre: Deleted Scenes, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Outsider, Rare Pairings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 02:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3511154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casey_Wolfe/pseuds/Casey_Wolfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One random encounter with Kocher has Rolling Stone keeping a close eye on the Bravo 3 Team Leader whenever he’s around.  The reason?  He’s really curious as to which of the Recon Marines is the man’s lover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kocher's Mystery Lover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Queen_Hatshepsut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Hatshepsut/gifts).



> So this all came about from a passage in Wright’s book about how his first night sleeping with Bravo at Camp Mathilda he was put into the space where Bravo 3 would leave to go out to the latrines during the night.  As he put it: “Semi-naked burly guys in boots or flip-flops traipse over my head all night long.”  That led to the thought of Kocher tripping over him, which led to this…  Someone save me from my muse? This is a birthday fic for my lovely Queenie!

When Evan Wright- who the men had taken to calling simply Reporter- was given his place to sleep in Bravo Company’s tent, he hadn’t realized that the space between the stack of military ration boxes and the machine gun was the walkway used by third platoon when they went out to the latrines at night.  As such he spent that first night getting traipsed on and around by various Marines.  It just so happened that one ended up falling right on him.

Reporter jumped as the large body landed on him, and he would deny the little yelping noise he made until he died.  It turned out to be Kocher, the Marine still half asleep as he grumbled trying to right himself.  He was muttering under his breath, “Only one guy in this damn camp I’d be snugglin’ with” before he made it out of the tent to do his business.

There was no helping it- Reporter’s curiosity was sparked.  That was exactly how he ended up spending the whole of the invasion trying to figure out just who Kocher had been speaking of that night.

* * *

They were staged outside of a town, taking light machine gun fire sporadically.  There had been a fuck up over comms and Encino Man had gotten them into a mess.  Bravo was making the best of the situation however.  While Alpha dropped ordnance into another part of the city, Bravo was busy taking out enemy foot mobiles in their sector.

Reporter was down behind the tire of Colbert’s Humvee observing all of this.  Nate crouched down next to him, making a crack about how Iraq was a safe country and it was all about perspective.  That word- _perspective_ \- was brought to mind when mere minutes later Kocher strolled over, drawing Nate’s attention.

Bravo Three was set up a little further along what passed for a road and with the comms on the fritz as they were it was reasonable to assume that he was bringing word from Captain America.  Between he and Encino Man, Reporter honestly couldn’t say who was the bigger moron.  That wasn’t what was really on his mind however when the pair wandered off to Nate’s Command Truck to speak in private.

There was no missing how close they stood.  There was no real reason for it- they were alone so they weren’t guarding classified information, nor was the small firefight around them loud enough to drown out their voices.  Their heads were tilted in towards the other, whatever they were speaking of bringing a rare smile to the young Lieutenant's face.

What absolutely _floored_ Reporter was when the first genuine smile he’d seen from Kocher crossed his face.  It was one thing he’d observed of the man from their first meeting.  Kocher was always laughing and joking with his fellow Marines but his smile never really seemed to reach his eyes.

When all was said and done, Kocher patted Nate on the shoulder a bit roughly and headed back to his team.  Nate watched him go, a thoughtful look on his face and his lips still curled upward.

As Nate started to wander by, Reporter inquired innocently, “Is there news from Bravo Three?” as a way to pry on the topic of their conversation.  It seemed Nate was onto him though, offering him a wry smile before walking off to join his men.

* * *

After seizing the airfield and finding out they would be staying in place for at least the next twenty-four hours, all the Marines were visibly relieved.  That meant a lot of the men were taking advantage of their Corpsman.  Doc Bryan was the only medic in all of Bravo Company and even with the assistance of the battalion’s medical officer, Aubin, it was a lot for them to process through.

Doc was as collected as ever, treating most of the Marines that came to them for issues with their feet.  They had been ordered to sleep in their boots and many hadn’t gotten a chance to air them out since the invasion began.  It was no wonder so many of them had the beginnings of trench foot, fungus, and other such things.

Kocher was one such man that came over to visit Doc, and Reporter couldn’t help but watch the two interact.  The mood was light between them and there was no missing how Kocher seemed to have a way of making Doc smile.  Clearly Kocher was taking advantage of it as well, pulling a grin from the Corpsman every possible chance.

“All set Marine,” Doc said, patting Kocher’s thigh and turning to the next patient.  Kocher laced up his boots reluctantly and honestly Reporter couldn’t blame him with the shape they’d been in.

When Kocher stood, he stumbled as his leg gave out.  Doc showed how he was more than just a simple medic but also a trained warrior, catching him with quick reflexes.  As he held Kocher up he was muttering about “Damn Jarheads can’t even walk right” and “You Devil Dogs are ungraceful as fuck.”  Even so he was smiling the whole time.  Kocher offered him a crooked grin and a shrug in return.

Reporter didn’t miss the way Doc’s hands, which had been steadying the Marine, slid down lightly over Kocher’s sides before pressing against his hips momentarily.  It appeared there was someone else in the running as Kocher’s mystery lover.

* * *

Walt had shot a civilian.  The young Marine wasn’t handling it well.  Reporter had noticed Brad talk to him, Nate talk to him, hell, a lot of Bravo had talked to him.  They all had different things to say- some comforting, some justifying- but all were positive.  Still, Walt was off and even Reporter knew it.

That said he was surprised to find Kocher walking up to Walt where he sat idly by himself looking like a kicked puppy off in time-out.  As the Bravo Three Team Leader sat on a rations crate beside him, Walt tilted his head to the side in question.  Reporter was standing next to Wynn, getting the latest update on where they would be off to next as well as any official reports coming in from other units.  “What’s that about?”

“Kocher?  Brad asked ‘im to talk to Walt ‘bout what happened.”  He was dipping and took a moment to spit before explaining.  “He went through somethin' similar in Afghanistan. Guess Brad figured if anyone can shake Walt outta ‘is funk…”  Gunny just shrugged before heading off to where Nate was calling him.

Reporter watched as Kocher laid a hand on the back of Walt’s neck, pulling him in gently to press their foreheads together.  He was too far away to tell just what the older Marine was saying but it was clearly comforting and encouraging in nature.  It would have been easy to write off as an innocent bonding moment between brothers until Walt all but sank closer into Kocher, hand coming up to grasp onto his shoulder.

Perhaps Kocher’s lover he had been trying to track down wasn’t actually a lover just yet?  Maybe it was wishful thinking on Kocher’s part?  If that was the case, Reporter figured Walt might have just let him know he wasn’t opposed to something more between them.  Then again, Reporter may have simply been fishing for anything at that point.

Whatever was said between them, there was no missing Walt had a little pep in his step once again.  It also seemed to pull Kocher out of his own funk, leading him to take a stand against Captain America.  That move would end up costing him quite a bit.

* * *

Brad was hunting for Kocher when he got the news the man wasn’t leading a team in Bravo Three any longer.  It was disconcerting to say the least and so when Brad headed straight for the motor pool to locate Kocher, Reporter tagged along in his wake.  So used to having him around, it didn’t even seem to register on Brad’s radar that he had a shadow.

Reporter stopped back away from them when he saw Kocher, allowing the men some semblance of privacy while remaining close enough to hear their conversation over the noise of the crews working on all the Humvees.

“Hey Brad,” Kocher greeted, a humorless smile on his face.  Redman sat up next to him, greeting Brad as well.

“What’s going on?” Brad demanded.

It was Redman who explained how they were caught in the crossfire of Captain America’s fuck-ups.  Of course Reporter wasn’t particularly surprised, and he most certainly shared their anger that these two Marines who had tried to do right were punished while the actual perpetrator was allowed to continue leading troops.  Captain America was clearly unstable yet he was still in charge of Bravo Three.  Without Kocher there to be a shield for his men, Reporter really couldn’t say if they would be able to survive the rest of the war- physically _or_ mentally.

“Eric I’m not gonna stand for this.”

Kocher’s gaze snapped up, meeting the intensity in Brad’s eyes.  Brad only tightened his jaw before turning to leave.  Kocher snagged his sleeve to stop him, sliding off the hood of the Humvee and into Brad’s personal space.  “Please don’t get yourself in a bind over this,” Kocher pleaded softly.  “I’ll take the hit.  No sense in you getting NGP’d over me.”

A small smile crossed Brad’s face, as rare as Kocher’s was and no less genuine.  “You’d be worth it,” Brad informed.  Their eyes stayed locked for a few long moments before Kocher finally allowed him to slip away.

Suddenly Reporter got the feeling he had intruded on something extremely intimate between the two men.

* * *

It wasn’t until everything was said and done, when Reporter was going around to say his goodbyes to everyone, that he finally figured it out.  He walked around a corner and had to duck back quickly so not to be spotted.  Kocher had been standing there, pressed against the building by his lover. Reporter’s head fell back against the wall, sighing in relief at not getting caught.

His ears picked up their words, spoken in hushed whispers.  “Fuck Tim,” Kocher scolded.  “Take it easy will ya?”

“Just glad you’re okay,” Doc replied.  “That was some fucked up shit we just went through.”

“You’re telling me?”  There was a hiss of pain and mild cursing from Kocher.  Reporter popped his head out to find Doc with his teeth working the flesh of his Marine’s neck.  “ _Stop_ would ya?  I’m already in enough trouble!”  It wasn’t said with malice and there was even a playful smirk on Kocher’s face when Doc moved away to meet his gaze.

“Yeah well fuck that,” Doc spat, his same unabashed self.  “You’re a damn good Marine and anyone says otherwise needs their fucking head examined.  Now…”  He took Kocher’s face in his hands.  “Enough with the bitching and kiss me already.”

Kocher didn’t hesitate, diving in for a biting kiss.  His arms wrapped around Doc, pulling him into a crushing embrace.  He leaned back against the wall then, taking both of their weight easily.  Doc didn’t complain, only tried to pull his lover impossibly closer as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss.

Reporter ducked back around the wall, shaking his head.  He heard the murmured affections from the Marine and his Navy Corpsman.  A grin split his face as he pushed off the wall and walked away, not wanting to disturb them.  They had earned their time together.  At least he was going home with that mystery solved.

/End

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://thedenofcaseywolfe.tumblr.com/).


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